I love horror movies. I see almost every single one. I rarely get scared or disturbed but when I do I feel I've gotten my money's worth.
I was greatly disturbed at Chainsaw Massacre, not because of the movie-making but because of the apathy it's recieved from the general public. Young people are brutally tortured, cannibalized and skinned alive. Cops are shot in the back and the bad guys win. This is a dark, dark film and yet America is silent. No one is talking about it. No one cares. Yet, when Janet Jackson flashes her breast or Barbra Streisand says 'Fuck you" on stage the national media goes into a tizzy.
I read a story recently about a woman indicted for obscenity crimes because on her website she writes stories about the torture of children? Who indicted her? Have those people ever been to a cineplex or a Broadway show? Last year one of the Tony nominees for best play was The Pillowman, a play about a guy who writes stories about the brutal killing of children. And don't most of our children read Hansel and Gretal in school? So why was that woman indicted?
Who is deciding what is "shocking" or "obscene" and why do some many follow suit?
Some days I'm a very confused American.
2 comments:
The Super Bowl is the most-watched TV event of the year. It's free, it's accessible in everyone's living room and it draws 90 million viewers. It's also a family audience. It's also regulated by the FCC, so the government, and hence, the public HAS to decide collectively what should be allowed on. Titty flashes aren't what that huge, family audience signed up for.
People already comfortable with the subject have to seek out TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in theaters, and most theaters ban anyone under 17.
I in no way condone the public cow had over Nipplegate or the DESPERATE HOUSWEWIVES ad during the Super Bowl. These qualify as No Big Deals to be laughed with and moved on as opposed to the public floggings, finings and cow-birthings.
But it might explain the difference in outcry.
Oh, America also has this fucked-up compass where violence is glorified but sex is villified. Since merely revealing the anatomy of a nipple is even less dangerous than sex, maybe America had to freak out ten times as hard. The Least Dangerous = Most Offensive. Get it?
You really have to hurt somebody to get American public approval. Why do you think football is the #1 sport?
Speaking of horror movies, we need a little more public outcry when they're made poorly.
What I hate about TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING and THE GRUDGE 2 is that the victims can't or don't fight back enough. They're just props, and the movie is just a repetitive torture chamber.
I like to see resourceful victims fight back and grow as characters. I like to see them succeed a little in addition to the setbacks with the villain. I like to feel they have a chance of escaping or certainly defeating the villains. That makes for excitement — a true contest.
I don't like seeing the victims screwed from the first act and not able to do anything about it. Boring!
I recommend the following recent horror movies for a good time (if you haven't already seen them):
HOSTEL
THE HILLS HAVE EYES
THE DESCENT
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE ('03)
SLITHER (which is probably more schlock comedy than horror)
I've seen 'em all. I didn't LOVE any of them but I enjoyed them all on some level. I really liked the second half of Hostel when the movie turned into a revenge piece.
And i understand what you're sayiing about "Nipplegate", but plenty of movies have caused public outcry and controversy. The public silence that meets these mainstream snuff films really intrigues me.
Ronnie
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